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House Democrats unanimously rebelled against legislation Thursday directing the construction of a new women’s history museum on the National Mall.
Democrats sought to defeat the bill after Republicans limited the institution to biological women and excluded transgender individuals.
The measure came up short in a vote of 204-216 after a handful of conservative GOP lawmakers joined Democrats in tanking the legislation that would secure a site for the forthcoming Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum on the grounds of the Mall.
The defecting Republicans objected to the measure over concerns about whether a women’s history museum was necessary, a source familiar told Digital, pointing to the representation of women in the Smithsonian’s American History Muse
The group of conservatives also opposed the bill over concerns it failed to add protections against left-wing content from appearing in the institution.
Members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, led by Chairwoman Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M., voted against bipartisan legislation securing a site for the forthcoming Smithsonian women’s history museum on the National Mall. (Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images)
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It was not immediately clear whether Republican leadership would attempt to bring the legislation up for a vote at a later date. Eight Republicans did not vote.
Democrats’ widespread opposition to the legislation came after the Democratic Women’s Caucus issued a statement last month accusing Republicans of targeting “transgender women and girls” with an amendment defining the museum around biological women.
The female lawmakers argued the anticipated museum is long overdue, but said they could not support the legislation with the biological women language added, which many characterized as a “poison pill.”
“The Museum shall be dedicated to preserving, researching, and presenting the history, achievements and lived experiences of biological women in the United States,” the amended measure, authored by Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., states in part.
The museum may not depict “any biological male as female,” it continues, which codifies language in a Trump executive order issued in 2025 barring the inclusion of transgender individuals in the forthcoming museum.
“The addition of the word biological made them all run for the hills,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a news conference Wednesday. “If that’s controversial in the Democratic Party, we’re in serious trouble. The party that purports to support women, demanding that the museum include biological men.”
Democrats’ decision to withdraw support for the museum measure comes as the party has continued to advocate for transgender rights despite questions over whether those views contributed to its poor performance in the 2024 election. Many Democrats also continue to face GOP scrutiny about providing a definition for “woman.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the insertion of language restricting the museum to biological women made Democrats “run for the hills.” (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Democratic lawmakers also slammed amended language in the bill granting the president the authority to choose an “alternative site” within 180 days of the measure’s enactment.
“They amended the bill to give Trump and his allies unregulated power over what content and which women can be included in the museum, and the museum’s location,” Democratic Women’s Caucus Chairwoman Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M., said in a joint statement earlier this week with other female Democratic lawmakers. “A museum about women, fought for and supported by women, should not be controlled by one man.”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., the sponsor of the museum measure, accused Democrats of “hiding behind” that rationale to avoid addressing the transgender provision.
“A women’s history museum is supposed to be dedicated to women, period,” Malliotakis told . “And the fact that they’re going to pull their support after overwhelmingly co-sponsoring this bill because the word biological was inserted, to me, is ludicrous.”
“They’re going to have to explain to their voters why they believe this museum should not be built and why they believe that there should be transgender exhibits in it,” she added.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said Democrats should have to explain why they want transgender exhibits in the forthcoming Smithsonian women’s history museum. (Allison Bailey/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
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Congress previously authorized the women’s history museum in 2020, along with a museum for American Latinos. Some Democrats justified their opposition to the measure over objections that the women’s history museum is advancing without the planned Latino institution.
